Burning Desire
by sunderlandprincess
Summary: Sometimes things happen that you never would have expected...this is a T/V romance that takes place before Time's up. *CH 3 Up!*
1. Default Chapter

Burning Desire:

I'll let the title speak for itself J I don't own any of the characters…blah, blah…you know the whole deal J

_ _

_ _

_ _

_Steel_

_Metal hot with fear_

_With rage_

# With a love about to be lost

_Fear_

# That hot, hot steel

_ _

Fifteen minutes into class, Tyler Connell ripped a tiny scrap of paper off of his history notes, pretending to be adding a side note to the incredibly fascinating lecture on the sewage system of ancient India. After scribbling a note on it, he folded it over and drew a tiny heart over the flaps and tapped the football player next to him to pass it over to Val Linear. 

She'd been watching him intently the whole time for telltale glances at her from two desks over, or flickers in the light blue eyes of his that might give her a slight indication of what he felt for her. Her heart pounded expectantly, hoping that it wasn't just one of those small talk notes that said: 'This is boring' or 'What's for lunch?' or something stupid like that.

But then again, wasn't that a form of flirting? At least he cared enough to be risking his grade in the class to send her a note. Either way her heart fluttered like a thousand racehorses never reaching the finish line of the Kentucky Derby. She tried not to smile but inside of herself for fear that the teacher would notice her smirks, and purposely ignored Tyler so that it didn't look as though she'd been waiting for the note. Or maybe she should have looked…maybe then she would have seen what kind of expression he was wearing in hopes that it would give her some clue of what the contents of the note were. 

Or maybe she should have looked to notice the sweat beading down the player's face next to her—how his eyes glazed over as he stared at the teacher at the front of the classroom without really looking at her. His pencil was clenched in his white-fisted hands, a lead hole being bored into the paper in front of him. She might have noticed, if she'd looked, that there was a bulge in the pocket of his varsity football jacket, and that his left hand swung back to the pocket to feel its contents every few seconds. 

Maybe, if she had looked, she would have seen that this teen would have cracked if a fly landed on him. But she didn't. She didn't want to look because never in a million years was her mind wandering to thinking about the life of the student sitting next to her, and what he might do if provoked. That morning, when she'd woken up and dressed and come to school, the only thing on her mind was Tyler Connell and whether or not he liked her. But sometimes there were bigger things to life than just that.

As Tyler tapped the football player's shoulder lightly with a smile, in hopes of him passing on the note to Val, the bomb exploded. Suddenly Val noticed how uptight he was as his hand groped into his pocket to pull out a menacing black gun. The pencil cracked and broke to the floor in two pieces, the paper floated to the ground, and Tyler instinctively let go of the note. 

Within an instant, the student had his right arm in a choking grasp around Val's neck, pulling her up out of her seat with violent force and before she knew it, the cold, merciless steel was poked at the side of her head. 

Hearing the commotion, the teacher swirled around and began a sentence, "Is there something…" but never finished it, dropping the chalk she'd been writing with. 

"Nobody moves, or I'll kill her!" He was literally crying, hot tears of pain and frustration as he held the gun shakily to her. 

She could smell the stench of his perspiration and could feel the shake in his arm around hung tightly around her neck. He was much heavier and much stronger than she was, but somehow her knees had locked, and all she could move were her eyes. She surveyed the classroom, her heart in her throat—she'd always wondered what it would be like to know you're going to die before you actually do, and wished she'd never wondered in the first place. She was going to die—she could tell by the nervous faces in her classroom that she was going to die. There was nothing anyone could do, and all she could do was watch as her body heat blazed against the steel, turning it hot, burning hot. 

Her eyes fell on the note that had miraculously landed on the desk, with the heart drawn over the folded flaps as she stood in the arms of her killer; the one she knew would be so merciless as to take her life along with his.

That's all for now! I've had this idea in my head for a long time and it finally came out right! Yay! Ch. 2 will be up soon enough. J


	2. Burning Desire 2

**Burning Desire Part 2:**

**I don't own any of the characters, but you already know that. Just read! ****J******

** **

** **

** **

**_Click_****.**

**Val distinctly heard a click and tightened all the muscles in her neck that lay beneath the death grip of one of her classmates. In the movies, guns went off after clicks. **

**But the metal pistol held shakily at her cheek remained still—still and hot. **

**The sea of faces in the classroom had gone completely blank, and she could see Tyler clenching and unclenching his fists from his seat. The disturbed student spoke. "All right, you," he pointed to a girl with the wave of the gun, "go and tell the principal to hold all the classes. No one moves from where they are—no one calls the police." **

**Val's mind relaxed a tiny bit, although her muscles didn't seem to get the message—her potential killer obviously wasn't that smart. But that didn't keep her the slightest bit relaxed for very much longer. She could feel the sweat beginning to form on her forehead and breathed much deeper than she normally did. For some reason, she couldn't get the feeling inside of her that this might be the last time she saw her friends and the last time they saw her. **

**"Tell him no police or I'll kill you all in here," He pulled Val closer to him and she swallowed hard. **

**The girl scrambled to her feet and ran out the door like a rabbit racing away from a fox. The door slammed and echoed as she left the room and hurried down the hallway. Val shifted her eyes to where Tyler sat nervously. She gave him a pleading look although she knew that he could not help her. **

**But to her surprise, he took a deep breath and stood up. She opened her mouth to shout at him to sit down, but the killer tensed and his grip became so restricting she could barely breathe. He whirled his arm around and pointed the gun at Tyler. "Sit down! I'll kill you! I'll kill…" but he broke down into tears before he could finish the rest of the sentence.**

**Tyler sat anyway, as though he knew something she didn't. Val felt a mix of tears and sweat crawl down her cheeks as she watched him. She would never know what the note with the heart on the folded flaps said. She would never get to tell Tyler how much she loved him and how she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life…but there would be no 'rest of her life'. Her life was going to end in History 3rd Period. **

**"Kill. All of you…" His voice was choked with sobs but he kept his grip around Val. He stunk of sweat and had bad breath, but it all didn't seem to matter very much then. **

**"Now," The teacher started now, her voice as cracked as the student's had been. Considering how much she got paid for what she did, she was being incredibly brave while putting herself on the line. "Please calm down. You don't really want to…kill anyone do you?" It was almost in a pleading tone, but shaky at the same time. **

**He pointed the gun at her this time, but all Val could concentrate on was the intense, thoughtful look that covered Tyler's face. She breathed in hard, gasping for breath. "Of…" But he couldn't finish, he'd been caught off guard. The salt from his tears must have blinded him…or the moment must have caught him not paying attention, for Tyler stood up quickly. **

**He jumped forward hastily and slammed himself into the other football player, who still grasped Val as though she were a lifeline to something, bouncing the three of them to the floor. Val screamed as they fell and crashed on her side into the desk. She only felt the pain afterwards, but at that moment, she just fell. Without a thought, she scrambled away underneath the desk and curled up, hugging her knees. Her heart beat like a thousand galloping horses and her breath came out in rasps. **

**In the matter of seconds, the football player, strong from adrenaline pumping through him, had managed to pin Tyler to the floor and pick himself back up to his feet, the gun held shakily in his hand. Tyler, now laying on the floor, gripping the leg of the nearest desk lashed out with his feet at the other student. The killer held the gun tight despite Tyler trying to trip him into falling.**

**"Tyler, no!" Val cried, tears streaming down her face. She could taste the salt in her mouth but she kept on crying out to him. She couldn't let him die for her sake.**

**The killer spun around and shot. **

** **

**TBC ****J****Byebye! **


	3. Burning Desire 3

Burning Desire Part 3

Burning Desire Part 3

I don't own the characters, but you all know that. This is the last instalment of this story.

Val didn't even have time to think about her life passing before her eyes as she watched the student pull the trigger. At the click, she closed her eyes tightly and gripped the desk. Tyler lying on the floor was the last image she knew she would have of him. Would he miss her? Would his life go on without her there? She hoped it hadn't all come to this. But before she knew it, the bullet had reached her. She felt the sting as it grazed her and lodged itself in the wall. 

Blood trickled down her arm and stained her shirt, but she didn't even realize until a few moments later. Was this what death felt like? No, it couldn't be. Thanks to a severely disturbed student with bad aim she had lived. She was still alive. Val braced herself, eyes still shut tightly for another shot, but none came. Her arm smarted terribly but soon it turned numb. She tried desperately not to throw up and bit her lip hard in hopes of keeping her stomach from churning. Even after years of working as an EMT, pain and blood always made her sick when it was coming from her body. 

Val's eyes fluttered open to see Tyler kicking out at the student's feet. The football player became entangled in the mess of legs and fell backwards, landing hard on his back on the tile floor. He screamed as the pain surged through his back and the gun flew out of his hand. It landed on the other side of the room with a shattering clang as the student tried helplessly to get up. 

Hastily, the teacher grabbed the fallen gun and held it pointed at the student. As Tyler began to tire of holding him down, the student was able to stand, but he immediately sunk to his knees. 

"Kill me!" He cried, sobbing and sweating as he did. "Kill me!" He begged the teacher. 

"I will not." She told him, but Val didn't hear the rest of it. Her mind was spinning so madly that she couldn't concentrate. She felt like she was going to faint…

Val woke because of the pain in her arm and found herself in her bed. She vaguely remembered the hospital and she vaguely remembered the drive home in the car. There was a bowl of soup by her bed and Brooke was there stirring it. Steam rose from the bowl and when Brooke realized that she was waking, she helped her eat. 

"Val!" Tyler exclaimed happily when he saw her at school the next Monday. 

She didn't exactly have a clue what she was going to tell him—how would she thank him? How on earth did you thank someone for saving your life? Funny she'd been saving lives for part of hers and now she was on the other end of it all. It felt weird to be on the wrong side of the fence, not to mention to be back at school again. She didn't think it would ever be the same. Ever. She would be a witness in the student's trial as soon as she had fully recovered and she didn't quite know how she would hadn't that, either. She wished with all her heart that it had never happened; she wish that she would never have to go through this, that the student didn't have to mess up his life, or that nobody would ever have to go through the pain that surrounded this all. 

But at that moment, the thing was Tyler. Val _had_ to do something for him—the image of the note folded and lying on the floor flashed in her mind but she pushed it away. He didn't like her like that. He was just her friend. But then why did he save her life by risking his own? No, it wasn't that. He would have done that for anyone: Hank, Jaime, Caitie, even Brooke. 

Tears sprung to her eyes as she approached Tyler in the hallway. It was empty since most people were in class (they had a free period) and she was glad of that. They stood and stared at each other for a second, but soon found themselves falling into each other's arms. "How are you?" He asked as they pulled out of the hug.

Sniffing, she muttered. "Better than I was before." She smiled weakly as they turned to walk down the hallway together. For a moment, they walked in an almost comfortable silence until Val said softly. "Thank you." 

"For what?" He asked this as though he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Stop it!" She warned almost playfully. For a second, it almost felt as though they were back in the old days, before all this had happened. But that was just for a second, for her arm's pain reminded her of the event. "You know what I'm talking about. If not for you I would be dead by now." Val said this very seriously and they stopped, taking a seat on the bottom step of the stairs. 

"No, Val. It was nothing." He looked away, hands clasped together.

"Okay, Tyler…no. 'nothing' is…oh, I don't know. 'Nothing' is not risking your life to save mine. I mean, I'm asking…I guess I'm asking…well, why?" She felt as though no one could have understood the sentence, but she didn't try to say it again. For some reason, she knew he'd understood. 

"Hey, you only live once." He said this while he turned to face her. "What I mean is that…well, there are only a few things you get in life that make it worth living and I couldn't stand to lose…no, never mind." 

Val's heart set itself high in her throat. She knew what he was saying. She understood exactly what he was saying for she felt exactly the same way. She was about to say something in response, but Tyler continued.

"Val," he said softly and lifted the hand of her good arm up to grasp. "If I had let you die, I would have died. _I am in love with you_ and I shouldn't have waited until it came to this to tell you." 

More tears slipped gently down her face as she leaned over to hug him again. His grip was so warm and welcoming that she wanted to stay there forever and never ever leave. "I love you, too, Tyler Connell." 

They pulled out of the hug and Tyler took his fingers to wipe the falling tears off of her face. He tilted forward and kissed her delicately on the lips. They both knew then that they should have spoken up much sooner, for one wrong choice or one false move could have broken up true love and they never would have known it. 

The End. Hope you liked it! 


End file.
